Friday, April 17, 2015

Trains, Dyngus Day, and Sports

3/28/2015 - CVSR Train Ride with Breakfast

Gina got me a secret (everything lately has been secret) Train ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad for Valentine's Day!...which we missed because we were late. BUT Gina was able to "sweet talk" (which I'm sure is code for threaten) the customer service lady into moving our train tickets and breakfast to March. I love trains so I don't really care how many small children Gina had to dangle off buildings in order to get this done. She has her ways and I just go along for the ride! See what I did there?

This is a must do for anyone whether you're a fan of trains or not! It's so relaxing and the scenery is amazing. The trains are nice and comfy but a bit drafty so if you go during the winter you may need to keep your coat on. Oh and definitely pick the east side of the train to look out of. The west side just isn't as scenic. The breakfast, which you would have thought was going to be the let down, was actually very good! Everything about this made me smile and because we had so much fun, Gina and I are planning on riding to Akron to get dinner at Luigi's and then riding home...if the schedules allows.

4/2/2015 - Progressive Field Sneak Peek

Through work (which in no way approves of, acknowledges, or agrees/disagrees with anything having to do with this blog) I was able to get a sneak peek at the new changes to Progressive field and more importantly a free lunch. These changes included new corporate branding that is in no way awkwardly placed, opening up the northeast entrance so we could get a better view of the 9's parking garage, an expanded kids area that's strategically right next to a new bar, a new statue because the old one was (in some way that I don't understand) racist, and container storage in the right field upper deck for the players to store their belongings until they are able to move in. At least I think that's what everything is for. I'm not sure because...did I mention we got free food!?!

All kidding aside, I don't mind the changes that were made to Jacob's Progressive field. I love going there to watch games and I love the Indians. Plus it's a hell of a lot better than building a brand new stadium with public funds for a team that hasn't won a world series in 67 years and is run by billionaires. Thanks for the vote of confidence Sports Illustrated but maybe you should wait until May 1st before you curse an already cursed team. I hear John Maddens's putting Jerry Sands on the cover of this year's video game too. God I wish someone read this blog...I'm freaking hilarious sometimes.


4/6/2015 - Dyngus Day

Oh Dyngus Day! I really do love this holiday. This year Aunt Fran was tooling around somewhere down south with Uncle Stan and the weather wasn't even close to the awesome sunny heat that we had last year. Even though it may have cramped our style a bit, it didn't stop us from going out to have some Polish fun around Tremont. 

I finally got Gina into Sokolowski's for some delicious Polish food and live polka music. Since Sokolowski's is as Cleveland as the Indians, I won't go into great detail because most of you already know how awesome the food is whether you've been here or not. I will say that our meal didn't disappoint and was more of the same heaping helping, fill you up right, old world, tasty goodness that makes you wonder how much of it you can eat before your sides split open...and trust me, we walked that razor thin line. So much so that I had to buy some coco butter like I was pregnant. It's a shame I didn't know this place existed when I was a teen with endless metabolism!

We also got a chance to go to one of the Polish Veteran's Clubs and grab a few Polish drinks. The bar tenders were nice and the older patrons all had a story to tell. One of the older gentleman even had his eye on Gina but lucky for me he left his pills at home or I'd have been at risk for losing my best gal! Now we have to hit all the other ones in our neighborhood. You heard me. There are more than 1.

4/10/2015 - Opening Day - (L) Indians: 4       Tigers: 8

Opening Day was a great time even though we lost but in the future, unless I have tickets, this will probably be my last one. Why you ask? I'm 35 years old and it was never more obvious than when I was standing in a 2 X 2 inch square at the Thirsty Parrot watching the youth pour past me like a drunkin roaring rapid while me, the guy with the weave and spray tan, and someone who seriously could have been on-air talent for NPR (think turtleneck and tweed suit jacket) tried to look like we belonged. We did not. Girls have boobs -- so they belong anywhere. I was not physically prepared to be in this place and the intimidation showed on my face. I will gladly stick to my alley bars and fringe restaurants for next opening day and leave it to the youngins to party like rock stars. Good luck with that.

Marmalade is ready to rock...yes she has a name. I know...
That's about $400 worth of shoes right there. Ain't the the coolest?!?
Me and the Bobbsey Twins.
I talked with the guy in the back about his hip problem for 20 mins.
Yes, it's opening day!
I wish this picture was taken sideways and that the "C' wasn't cut off.

4/12/2015 - Our 1st Indians Game of 2015 - (L) Indians: 5       Tigers: 8

Before we went to our first game of 2015, we got brunch at Prosperity Social Club. This is one of our favorite places to go recently because of the atmosphere, service, and food. I guess those are the big 3 huh? Oh they're affordable too! This is a must must must go for brunch. Their dinner menu is great too but their brunch is...well let's just say we're taking people there now who spend the night or come up early on the weekends. We all ordered something different and everything was delicious. Salmon Cake Benedict...ya think about that one for a second. Yum! Bloody Mary's are good. Sides are great. You can't go wrong AND they have Saturday brunch as well. This was all the win we were going to get today however...

We got to the stadium and bought tickets in the cheap seats. I don't care what anyone says, there's not a bad seat in the house at Progressive field. We even got some sun in our face around the middle innings. If it wasn't for the drunkin angry Tiger fans (redundant, I know) who surrounded us chanting "We'all sweeped dem Injins", it would have been a perfect day. Love a good day at the ballpark.

We didn't get to see any of the new areas up close. I figure I'll wait until it's just me and Gina before I go off exploring. Everything looked great though from our seats! Even the PODS section in right field. Go Tribe!
I'm not sure who's trying to be who in this couple. What I do know is that it's creepy how similar these 2 are.
Way to show up Tribe Fans...

4/152015 - Cavs Game - (W) Cavs: 109       Pistons: 97

As if we didn't have enough sports this post, I bought us Cavs tickets too! I mean come on. I needed to attend a win or I was going to think it was me (more than likely Gina) who was bring Cleveland teams bad luck. Well we won thanks to J.R. Smith hitting 3's from everywhere and anywhere and Lebron even played! He messed around and got a triple-double. We got some hot dogs and cheered them our way. I have to say, today was a good day. I'm holding out hope that work gets one more ticket deal for the playoffs or I'll be watching them from home unfortunately. This is where I'll end it to avoid jinxing anything...

Until next time Urban Pioneers!
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Thursday, April 9, 2015

Outdoor Art vs A Grey CLE

In big cities you can easily be overcome by the amount of grey and shades of grey you come across. Sidewalks, streets, steel supports, buildings, manhole covers, sewer grates, the sky, etc... And other than 50 shades of grey, the color does not translate into happy, bright, and cheery feelings! Blah, sadness, depression...But don't you worry because like the song says "Grey skies are going to clear up! Put on a happy face!"

Dendrite! Our front yard mascot.
There are people who are effected by their environment and then there are people who effect their environment. In order to conquer the grey in big cities you have to go out and add a little color to the urban palette! These efforts can range from the large art installations in public areas (think the Bean in Chicago) to the smallest little effort by 1 man or woman with some spray paint. Since cities have more to worry about than sprucing up an old rock or planting a couple of perennials, not enough gets done...and nothing ever gets done where it needs to get done.

Affluent gentrified neighborhoods like Tremont get the benefit of public art projects because their citizens demand such things. Tremont is filled with art galleries, artists, and people who can make things happen. We get to benefit from things like Dendrite (the statue outside our house) or a pocket park by the new highway bridges (with IMO the best views of the city) because they are written into larger government funded projects. It's not because the city cares more about our neighborhood or less about others. It's because our neighborhood cares more about our neighborhood. We have a base to build upon. We used a ground up approach and now is the time when we can start putting the garnishment and decorations on our stable, proven, and time tested neighborhood.

Some neighborhoods aren't there yet but that doesn't mean that they should be punished by having to look at the grey urban landscape day in and day out. Actually these areas are the blank canvases that need color and art most of all. Art is not only a litmus test for urban success but it's also an economic driver. The Beachland Ballroom for example is a music hall that not only keeps the Waterloo Road sidewalks filled with visitors, it's the heart of the whole North Collinwood neighborhood! Show nights bring in fans for more than just the show. They get dinner, drinks, and put feet on the ground. The Capitol Theatre renovation in Gordon Square was a catalyst to the rejuvenation of that whole area. The Near West Theatre's new home is helping to push Gordon Square's success east down Detroit towards Hingetown which got a kick start from the Transformer Station art space that opened there in 2011. The Tremont Art Walk keeps people coming to the Tremont area art galleries and restaurants every 2nd Friday of the month.
Some public art on a building between the West Side Market and Great Lakes Brewery.

So what can you and your neighborhood do? Well, that's the best thing about art. Some of the best pieces cost little to put together. Take for instance Beaufort, SC. All they did was paint flowers around manhole covers and are now looking to expand that because of its popularity. Simple, cheap, easy...but also colorful and interesting. It reminds me of the Captain America-like manhole cover that I found in Tremont. All you need is a little imagination (and a lookout) and boom! You now have some art to breakup the grey canvas that surrounds you.

In Chicago, Gina and I came across an old mail box that had been equipped with flower boxes and flowers. It's so easy and simple but so creative an necessary at the same time. It looked so nice that the Post Office just left it there and put the updated blue box right next to it. In most cases, people (no matter how stuffy or regulated) will let these kinda things go because they are, even in the littlest way, important to neighborhoods and to cities. Plus it's not worth the time, effort, and potential backlash to remove it. Art gets a +1 over the federal government on this one.

Art just isn't there to look at either. Some of the most popular pieces are interactive. It makes people stop what they're doing and go get a picture or spin a wheel or walk up something. Great interactive art plays with your human need to participate but not enough to be complicated. Take for instance the painting outside of Grumpy's below on the left. Flowers with the centers cut out. No instructions. Not a whole lot of money invested in it. You feel however the need to pop your heads in and snap a picture. It works on a lot of levels but it makes you want to interact with it and it makes you happy. The picture from Navy Pier on the right is a little more elaborate but I'm guessing that Gina isn't the first person (although she is the best looking) to pose in this way with it. She's smiling and we laughed about it later while looking at pictures. Being able to interact with your environment leaves you with a lasting connection to that place and time. Have you ever felt that way walking past a fast food parking lot?
The Kazimir's enjoying Tremont.

The adult equivalent of finger painting. Kindergarten shit. 
With that all being said... I think tagging your misspelled name in a goofy font on a exterior wall or sign is pointless and stupid. Yes, it's still art but I'm allowed to have my opinion and my opinion is that it's lazy and worthless. Fortunately its saving grace is that it represents the other side of public art...having balls. There are museums filled with beautiful pieces of art and parks filled with even more. You sign up, submit ideas and concepts, get chosen, work for months, and have it installed. Bravo! Honestly, that takes way too long and there's a good possibility that most of us will never have this happen. Now avoiding that whole getting chosen and being approved process thing and going right out to create takes balls. And when you're done, for nothing to happen to it because it's that damn good...that's respect right there! Sometimes you just have to create and be seen! It's a feeling that can't be micromanaged.

Don't get me wrong, Government funded art is all well and good but the most intriguing and infamous art sometimes comes from a talented person with little money to work with and a desire to be noticed. There's so much blank canvas out there in Cleveland that needs to be targeted but it doesn't seem like there are a lot of artists out there that want to take advantage of it. Maybe that shows how we perceive government's support of public art? We're scared to get caught because we don't see it as art. We see it as a crime.

Maybe it's about time we start to publicly express ourselves artistically past that line of good decency urban pioneers?...
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Friday, April 3, 2015

365 Days Blogging About Cleveland

April 2, 2015 - Ladies and Gentleman, it's been exactly 365 days since I started blogging about my adventures in Cleveland. That's right. 78 posts later and the name of the blog finally has some meaning. I guess it'll have meaning again on May 1st when it will be 365 days actually living in Cleveland...but a man needs content! Especially when he's waiting for it to stop snowing in April so he can get back at it. 

As I look back at the blog stats for my 78 posts, I've had almost 9,200 views from 10 counties which is weird, unexpected, and certainly a glitch of some kind. I've made a whopping $0.14 from ad clicks. I don't really see any particular thing that you people like to read about more than others except you kinda hate when I talk about my ideas and not about things that I actually did. Understandable since I do that for my own peace of mind and because maybe I just felt lazy that week and didn't do anything. Those weeks are few and far between though thanks to this blog and to the fact that I feel compelled to keep doing things in order to have something to write about. I, like many of you, fight the urge to just relax my spare time away but because I can only BS my way through my opinions on architecture, urban planning, and mass transit just so much without boring everyone to sleep, I have to get myself out and explore. Even if it's going to a new restaurant (a word in which I can now spell correctly about 85% of the time since starting this blog), I think of the 6 people who read this and get my butt out of the house.

With that all being said... I am going to continue blogging for another 365 days in Cleveland!

There's actually a lot of positive/selfish reasons why I'm going to continue to write this blog. Mostly I want people to know that there is more to this city than what you hear on the news. If that was your only reference point, there'd be downtown and the East Side where all of the gang violence happens. It's a sad fact that the news just up and assumes that you know about every neighborhood and street in this city. The fact is that most of the people I talk to about Cleveland have no idea about my neighborhood, Tremont, or even where it is. My neighborhood has a low crime rate, 4-star restaurants, high-end boutique shopping, a huge neighborhood park with a public pool, and $450,000 homes with city views. Yup, that is an area of land within the boarders of Cleveland, Ohio and not a separate city that just boarders it. It's a 15 min walk through the Flats to downtown and a 10 min walk to the West Side Market. Similarly great things can be said to describe other Cleveland neighborhoods like Ohio City, University Circle, West Park, North Collinwood, Detroit Shoreway, Buckeye-Shaker, etc... They are all within the boundaries of the city of Cleveland and have their own positive things going for them.

For Example...

The Beachland Ballroom and the Cleveland Clothing Company's flagship store are in North Collinwood but did you know that Waterloo Road just completed a huge streetscape project with public art installations that is drawing new small businesses to the area to join the art galleries and existing shops? North Collinwood is right along the lakefront and not even in the way that downtown is "on the lakefront". You know, how you have to go over train tracks, streets, highways, and more streets to get to downtown's lakefront. Ya, it's nothing like that! Euclid Beach Park is right there! It's the next great Cleveland neighborhood and everyone is taking notice!

Want another example?...

You can find local favorites like Happy Dog and Sweet Moses in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood but you can also find places like 78th Street Studios which is the largest fine arts complex in NE Ohio with over 43 retail galleries, studios, and other creative spaces. The neighborhood has beautiful old homes and brand new $350,000 townhouses. Go north through any of the pedestrian tunnels and you're right there at Edgewater Park along the lake. It's a great neighborhood all year round but it's especially fun on Dyngus Day when it becomes ground zero for this great Polish celebration! 

...And the list goes on and on. It's not all about the downtown renascence or the crime on the east side, it's about people of all kinds moving back to the city and making it work for them. They're taking a risk with the hope of a big payoff in the end. Sure the schools are still crumby but there are great schools here that are attracting families to once forgotten Cleveland neighborhoods. Once great buildings and homes that have been abandoned for years are now diamonds in the rough for people who have the passion to do some improvements and get their hands dirty. We really have turned a corner and you can feel that fact like an electric shock in the air.

With all that has happened in the last 365 days, it feels as if we've seen the red tape get cleared away and are ready to see some serious progress in this next year. Progress that will give me new buildings to visit and take pictures of, new events to attend, new thrills to experience...and I'm so ready! So just for shits and giggles, here is my Cleveland bucket list for this year:
That's all I can think of for now. If you have any for me, leave them in the comments section. Here's to another 365 Days in Cleveland urban pioneers!
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Thursday, March 26, 2015

Heinen's Downtown

3/22/15 - Sunday morning I had to work on a project dialed in from home so I unfortunately missed out on going to Hale Farm and Village for their Maple Sugar and Pancake breakfast celebration. As bummed as I was I worked through it and took a nap. Then Gina called with a great idea! Let go to the new Heinen's downtown. Gina has desires to go downtown about once a season so I quickly said "YES" even before she was able to finish her sentence. It could have been "Let go downtown...YES... and light it on fire?...NO!"

Heinen's opened in the Cleveland Trust rotunda building on E 9th and Euclid a few weeks ago to some pretty rave reviews. This new grocery store is in one of the most beautiful buildings inside and out in the whole city...and to think that it has been sitting empty for the past 24 years. See when we think of the last 24 years of this city we think of the "Scooby Doo Ghost Town" years when you could practically run down Euclid Ave naked and other than catching a stray bullet, you'd get tired of running before someone actually saw you. That's the time when gems like this were laying dormant at the de facto crossroads of our city. It's amazing and at the same time sad to think of.

All it really took was a grand vision...and millions of dollars of infrastructure and transportation improvements to get us to the point where established brands are now poking around and playing with the idea of coming to downtown Cleveland. After 1980 and before the HealthLine, this intersection was just 2 wider than necessary streets crossing each other...just another stop light between you and a Browns game...lots and lots of grey concrete. Now it's a major stop on the nations most successful Bus Rapid Transit line. It's home to 2 separate historical building renovations. It can take you either from the highway to the lake or from Public Square to University Circle. It's one of the main entrances to the 2nd largest Theater District in the US. The success of this intersection is, in all reality, a measuring gauge of the success of downtown. If CSU and Playhouse Square are thriving and Public Square, East 4th St., and the Casino are successful, this East/West connector will see the increased traffic of downtown residents enjoying what great entertainment their city has to offer. If the North Coast is bringing in tourists and our financial district is creating jobs, we'll see this area come to life as a 24 hour thoroughfare for weekend visitors and weekday workers. If there are heads in the windows of the buses and traffic on the streets, our downtown is in good shape. If there are people in the shops and feet on the sidewalks, downtown is thriving.

Now with all that being said I noticed 2 things. #1 - There were people on the street on a 40 degree day. God sign! #2 - For those of you who though that the downtown population wasn't large enough to support a full scale grocery store... you were wrong. The first thing you notice after the beautiful building and the amazing interior is that this place is busy. There are a lot of people there shopping, taking picture, having a meal, etc... I probably said excuse me 2 dozen times or so. Navigating this place with all of the customers really proved to me that who ever made the decision at Heinen's to do this probably has bruised shoulders from all of the pats on the back he's received. I couldn't help but be impressed!

When you walk in to the rotunda building you are immediately stopped in your tracks by the beautiful restoration that has taken place. Every detail was delicately restored to its original magnificence. It's truly breathtaking. The main area of the first floor is table seating surrounded by deli counters for meat, cheese, and prepared dishes and bakery. Lots of delicious bakery. Off the back of the rotunda down the ramp is an isled area that holds household goods, dry foods, frozen food, and dairy. It really is an honest to God grocery store.

Gina and I shopped for awhile and it is true that some of the prices are a bit higher than what you'll find at a slave labor outfit like Walmart but you bargain shop like anywhere else. There's no price there that blows your mind like a $60 can of soup or anything. There's also a lot of free range, non-GMO, gluten free, hippie type of food there which is to be expected in a urban area that tends to attract people of the "hipster" persuasion. You gotta play to your base you know? One thing I didn't notice, although we didn't hit every corner of the place, was a section for over the counter meds like Advil or Alka-Seltzer. I guess you could go across E 9th to CVS, if you needed to. Then again we may have just overlooked it. All in all it's just like walking through whatever grocery store you have...except the alcohol section. Oh my goodness the alcohol section. 

Now I'm going to start by saying that I didn't see any hard alcohol so no scotch, whiskey, tequila, etc... but that's normal unless you're pittsburgh's own "giant ripoff" and swindled your way into being a liquor store to the detriment of smaller community brick and motor liquor stores. Heinen's downtown does however have wine and beer (plus I guess they have some gas station liquor like Kamchatka and Baileys)...and it's all on the 2nd floor balcony! 

If you're coming here to go to sight-see, this is probably where you'll end up to make the drive from where ever you came from worth it. The whole thing other than a lunch counter is beer and wine. You can make your own six pack which isn't that revolutionary but is always a welcomed perk. There's also Heinen's collaborations with local breweries for small batch brews to be on tap. Then there are the wine dispensers and glasses. For a price you can taste, drink, or practically put your head under the nozzle of many different kinds of wine from these stations. There's comfortable couch seating and table seating for you to relax and enjoy yourself. You can have views of inside the rotunda or outside at the city. It's kind of a cool place for a first date actually. Super chill, grab a snack, get some wine, and talk it out. I was really impressed by the selection and by this awesome area.


When we were done, we got our parking ticket validated since we spent over $50 and after I got us out of the parking garage that Gina (aka Joe Vozar) got us lost in, we were on our way. The Cleveland parking technology isn't quite up to snuff when it comes to validating our ticket so we had to find the very angry attendant who sarcastically kept saying "Boy I love that Heinen's!" Even he though couldn't bring down my excitement over free parking! That's right kids. It's a downtown miracle!!!

She never knows where to look even though we've taken about a billion selfies ;)
This from beginning to end was a great experience for me and I think Gina liked it too. It's a blessing in a city like Cleveland to have 2 market/grocery stores in 2 iconic buildings. We are literally the kings of classic old building food shopping areas. It goes to show you that if you are willing to take a risk (that really only is a risk because people are cynical a$$holes when it comes to a successful Cleveland and don't look at the numbers), you too can get in on the ground floor of this rising phoenix that is Cleveland, Ohio. The opportunities are there and you will be seen as a conquering hero if you provide a needed service, move into a classic old structure, and bring jobs into the city! You literally will make customers for life of the population of downtown because they are a growing base that are starved for the basic necessities. It's a win/win people.

So a month or so ago I switched cell providers from Big Red ($110/mo) to Sprint (almost 1/2 of that/mo). If you switch because of me and this post, please use my name as a reference and we'll both get a little extra cash. With that move I was able to get a new phone, the Google Nexus 6! This phone has a fun new feature...well new to me...called photo sphere. Below is my 1st photo sphere and also my 1st time sharing a photo sphere. I guess if you have the right browser and software and stand on your head while drinking a glass of milk and say the alphabet backwards...you should be able to see a 360 degree view of the inside of the rotunda. If not, then I guess you'll just have to go see it yourself. Actually go see it yourself no matter what. It is now up there as a sightseeing stop on your tour of Cleveland. It's that good! Oh and I'm pretty sure if you tried all of that, you don't have hiccups anymore either. Ya, I'm just that good! Peace out urban pioneers...until next time!



 See if you can find Gina Bina! If you can, then you win. 
Win what? My undying admiration.
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Friday, March 20, 2015

St. Patrick's Day


Remember, I'm 35... yuck!
3/17/2015 - Ahh St. Patrick's Day. It's the designated day to wear green, drink, and fight...AHEM...I mean celebrate Ireland's rich cultural heritage! In this day and age there is no greater St. Patrick's day celebration and parade than in good old Cleveland, Ohio. Doubt my claim??? Well consider this... every year Chicago takes the time and makes the effort to dye their river green to help celebrate. We just don't clean up the algae bloom for a week or so. Point Cleveland.
 vs.
Savannah, Georgia (the mecca of celebrating different cultures BTW) has one of the biggest St. Paddy's day celebrations in the world... except it's 70 degrees and SUNNY! Those poor gingers will burn to death out there. Now in Cleveland any day in March has a 100% chance of being overcast with 0% chance of seeing the sun. The palest of Irish people can run free outside without any sort of sunscreen. Again... Point Cleveland.

Now you would think Boston would be the top place to go for St. Patrick's Day parties and shenanigans since, you know -- you've watched TV, movies, and lived in America -- but according to Niche.com you'd be wrong... It f*cking pittsburgh. Yup. Even though it's parade is not as old as ours, 13.5% of their population is Irish and they go ape$hit on social media. Now instead of looking at other lists, I'm going to take this opportunity to player hate on pittsburgh since "they have so much and we have so little". Clevelanders again are guilty of making the most out of the nothing that was left after oh let's say 1950. Not only do we make all of the top 10 lists with only 8% of our population being Irish but we go crazy about it on social media even though most of us are too poor to afford computers or smart phones. Hey pittsburg, you suck. You toll road Nazi a$$holes... Point Cleveland!

OK, now to Cleveland's legendary St. Patrick's day celebration!...which I attended...looking like a tool. The bad part of looking so old is that 22 year olds look at me like I'm some sort of escaped Alzheimer patient from the old folks home as opposed to the 35 year old douche bag clinging to his youth that I really am. So I got that going for me. Luckily everyone was too drunk to notice my salt-and-pepper hair or protruding beer gut hidden under my overcoat...or that I wasn't wearing pants. OF COURSE I was wearing pants! Green ones actually. Anyways, it was much too cold to be creepy. Seriously cold!

After I parked in my super secret free parking spot (that's not really secret because I tell everyone about it), I walked right to ground zero for a good time downtown, East 4th Street. It was almost noon and the parade didn't start until 1 so the pedestrian only street was busy but not as crowded as I expected. I walked right through without worry passing classic staples of any alcohol-centric holiday along the way. Favorites like "Ready to pass out at noon man" or "body paint instead of a shirt boy" or "Woo-who girl" and her college friend "Skirt and knee highs chubby lady". Then there's my favorite, "I'm just here to celebrate my heritage and this is really scary old couple". They were all there  and they were all getting dogged by the judgmental groups of passerby's. I didn't doddle in too long because I was on a mission to get to my favorite place where I can always get a table and an awesome meal, NoodleCat!

After a delicious but ultimately gassy Irish themed meal at NoodleCat plus (2) $1 Black Label's, I was ready to go find a seat to watch my 1st St. Paddy's day parade ever! Now long long ago in a (what seems like) galaxy far far away Cleveland had Street Cars or Trolley's. No, not Lolly the Trolley like we have now. Think more along the lines of the San Francisco treat "ding ding" or a Street Car Named Desire...STELLLLLAAAAA!!!!  If you look down the major roads in Cleveland and wonder "why in the world are they so wide?!", that's why. Street cars going sometimes in both directions, cars going in both directions, and people all had to be able to fit on the street comfortably. Remember, things happened before you were born and there were more than just cars. Well thanks to good old GM, the street cars are no more and now we have these wider than necessary streets to try to navigate and god forbid try to cross. I tell you this story to show you my state of mind for the next paragraph.

Once I got down Superior a little I saw some open seating areas and thought to myself "Wow, what luck!" I really thought I'd have to stand the entire time. I chose my tree planter and decided to sit down around the E 12th street intersection... on the South Side. Too much detail? Nope. I broke out my phone and started to get my camera ready to snap some great picture for my blog...then the wind blew...and blew... and it was a cold Cleveland wind. But you know what?! I'm a Clevelander! The wind and cold doesn't stop me from having a good time. Hell the only Brown's tickets I can afford are for late December/early January games when there's 8 feet of snow and we're starting a 3rd string QB! Then as I began to look around I noticed that my side of the street was being abandoned for the sunny side of the street. My stubbornness met the start of the parade. Now I'm sunk. I'm the only non-smoker on this side of the street and I have every friggin' cop in Northeast Ohio marching between me and the sunny side of the street. Not to mention the motorcycle cops that are whirring up and down the street at 45 mph at random trying to keep the peace. Then there were the horse cops and the Irish dogs... and the distance between me and the other side of the street that used to carry street cars and cars and people seemed like miles... so I sat and froze. I say that now sniffling as I type.

Other than the cold, the parade was great! It was way longer than I expected too. They had everything an Irishmen ever did represented in one way or another. Accomplishment, senses of pride, stereotypes...it was all in there...well except for candy. The Constitution Day parade in Louisville has candy. Just a thought for next year parade committee. Also, as long as you stay away from the bar areas, this is one of those great things to bring kids to downtown. I'm always looking for those types of things since one of the huge complaints I hear is "there's nothing to do for kids downtown". Here are some pics I took. Click them to see larger sizes:

Took this from across the street... See how wide it is?!?
Irish CHiPs! Which in America are French fries...unless your Toby Keith. Then they're freedom fries.
Marching in kilts. Not as good as the Tilted Kilt but then again those girls can't play bagpipes... so it's a draw.
Our politicians! I'm guessing a few aren't Irish but I'm not sure which.
More men in kilts playing bagpipes. God bless their white, exposed legs. Brrrr......
Ronald McDonald even makes an appearance to no doubt peddle his Irish staple the Shamrock Shake.
My favorite float-type thing in the whole parade! By this time I was using a bus stop to block the wind.
They're going to invade the closest Country Kitchen!
East 4th after the parade was over.

After the parade was over I went to the new Heinens to finally get some pictures of the inside. Unfortunately they closed early for some reason so I did what any good man would do...Go to the Casino! After a little over an hour of gambling I walked out about $10 richer and 3 beer drunker. I call that a win/freakin win baby!

I walked home and napped/waited for poor Gina to get home from work. She loves St Patrick's day but had to work until about 8:30 pm. We ended up getting a few drinks in Tremont and headed home. As much as I love Cleveland, these types of events aren't the same without someone to enjoy them with. I try to pretend that I'm a photographer taking pictures for this blog and not out for a good time. It helps but it's certainly not the same...

Well with all of the big ticket events in the past couple of blogs, I haven't had a chance to talk about restaurants we've eaten at, vendors we're friends with, or changes to the city that I enjoy. Maybe next week I'll touch on those. Something always seems to come up though in this great city and that's not a bad thing. Have a great weekend Cleveland and Erin go bragh!
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Location: Cleveland, OH, USA
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